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DVDs in the Works

Archive for the ‘Sci-fi’ Category

Who are the Fades?

The Fades

One of the most talked about BBC series this fall was The Fades, which premieres on BBC America this Saturday, January 14, at 9pm ET. Created by Jack Thorne (Skins), The Fades is firmly in the horror genre, but with a strong thread of mystery surrounding who the Fades are and why they are appearing now. Within the mundane world of suburbia and school, the story unfolds with the heightened imagery of graphic novels. Iain De Caestecker stars as Paul– bewildered seventeen-year-old, reluctant hero and social pariah. Daniel Kaluuya (Skins S1 and S2) plays Paul’s best and only friend Mac, who applies everything he’s learned from the movies to the crisis at hand (with mixed results). The Fades producer Caroline Skinner is also one to watch. She’s the new executive producer for this year’s series of Doctor Who, replacing Piers Wenger and Beth Willis.

A brand new Nerdist special follows Episode One on BBC America at 10:15 pm ET. Devoted to the horror genre, the special features Lily Lovelace (Skins S3 and S4) talking about her role as Paul’s mortified sister, Anna. The cast of The Fades also includes Natalie Dormer (The Tudors, Captain America), Johnny Harris (Whitechapel) and Daniela Nardini (This Life, Reckless). In Canada The Fades premiered January 3rd on BBC Canada, which will air it through Feb 7th on Tuesdays at 8pm ET. The DVD and Blu-ray will be available on February 21st, the Tuesday after the series finale airs on BBC America.

Dramaville Fan Alert: Remember that The Hour and Luther Season Two are in the running for Golden Globe Awards. The ceremony, hosted once more by the irrepressible Ricky Gervais (The Office, An Idiot Abroad) airs this Sunday, January 15th, at 8pm ET on NBC. As we mentioned before, The Hour is up against Downton Abbey, which made its much anticipated return to Masterpiece last Sunday. Series Two is already available for pre-order, delivering February 7th.

Christmastime with the Doctor

Doctor Who: The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe

When we last mentioned this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, the North American air date was still unconfirmed. We are happy to report that the much-anticipated special will air on December 25th at 9pm Eastern / 8pm Central on BBC America and in Canada on Space. But that’s not all, in both countries the lead-in at 8pm Eastern / 7pm Central will be Doctor Who: The Best of the Christmas Specials. This will be the first time the Specials have reached back to cover the David Tennant years, and we hear that the Tenth Doctor has quite a few fans among the regular commentators.

Speaking of the Best of Specials, the first three (shown last summer on BBC America) will be DVD extras when The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on February 14.

Fan Alert: On December 24th at , BBC America will air a Year in Review special of The Nerdist, with exclusive pieces filmed in London with David Tennant and Simon Pegg (Spaced).

Sweetie darling! Ab Fab’s back!

Absolutely Fabulous

The essential Absolutely Fabulous ensemble – Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks – is reuniting for three 20th Anniversary specials. These are the first new episodes since “White Box” aired seven years ago, and we can hardly wait to see which of the world’s latest obsessions will spawn the next classic one-liners from Jennifer Saunders. Most of all, we’re looking forward to more of Patsy and Edina. As Jennifer described their special chemistry in a Radio Times interview: “When I’m being Edina and Joanna [Lumley, of course] becomes Patsy, I think there’s no happier place to be, because it’s total escape. It must be, for us, like meditation is for other people.”

BBC America will run the first special on Sunday, January 8. (Canadian broadcast details are not yet known.) The DVD will have to wait until after the summer to include the third special, which is inspired by the 2012 Olympics hosted in London. Until then, the next best thing is Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything, whether you’re catching up on the whole hilarious saga, or snagging the perfect gift for the fashionista or fashion victim on your list.

Thanks to all of you who have posted holiday memories and greetings on our Facebook page!

Captain Jack’s back in Torchwood: Miracle Day

Torchwood: Miracle Day

At long last, we have good news for the Torchwood fans who were unable to see the latest series when it ran on Starz last summer. DVDs and Blu-rays are in the works for release by this spring. As you may recall, Children of Earth ended with Torchwood HQ demolished and only two survivors. As the production moved to Los Angeles, fans wondered if they’d ever see Wales again. Well, there it is– in all its glorious cloud cover. Joining the cast this season is Bill Pullman (Independence Day) as a condemned man whose miraculous survival from execution triggers the global realization that nobody is dying anymore. Mekhi Phifer (ER, 8 Mile) also stars as CIA agent Rex Matheson, who trails Captain Jack (John Barrowman-Doctor Who) and Gwen Cooper (Eve MylesLittle Dorrit, Merlin) to tap their Torchwood expertise in all things supernatural. At this rate of population growth, the human race will cease to be viable in four months, or ten episodes. Available for pre-order soon!

The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe

Doctor Who Christmas 2011

Hmmm… the title of this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special sounds a bit Narnia-inspired. From the trailer we posted last week, it also looks a bit Narnia-inspired, especially with that line about a “forest in a box.” That’s Claire Skinner (Outnumbered, Sense & Sensibility [2008], Lark Rise to Candleford [S1]) as the widow, and some of you may have spotted Bill Bailey (Black Books, Spaced). Christmas certainly came early for Bill Bailey, who is a lifelong fan of Doctor Who. Check out his brilliant Belgian jazz version of the Docteur Qui theme.

Colin Firth fan alert: Imagine attending the premiere and after party of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as the guest of Mr. Firth himself. Click here to find out more about this charity auction on ebay. But time is of the essence, the bidding ends today, November 23rd, at 6 pm ET.

Top Gear 17, or Richard Hammond the Lionheart

Top Gear 17

Behind that tinted windshield is Richard Hammond, testing the durability of the 10-ton Marauder in conditions typical to South Africa. Meanwhile Clarkson celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary Jaguar E-type, with a party checklist that includes live music, classic fighter planes and a group of Royal Marines. In James May’s challenge (evocative of the minis-in-the-ice-rink sequence famously cut from The Italian Job), the latest Mini rally car pits its reputation in a downhill race with gold medal winning British Olympian Amy Williams on her skeleton sled. And that’s just Episode One of Top Gear 17. Stars in a Reasonably Priced Car include rock legend Alice Cooper, LiveAid’s Bob Geldof, Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel and Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder, Mr. Bean), who is very much a racing enthusiast in private life. Special Features include extra chats and laps plus a sample episode from the American version of Top Gear. Look for Top Gear 17 to arrive on DVD and Blu-ray before Spring 2012.

Doctor Who fan alert! BBC America is looking for talking heads to appear in its next Doctor Who Special, The Best of the Christmas Specials, set to premiere on December 24th. This is an exclusive, can’t-miss chance to be featured on-air in the program alongside the musings of celebrity Whovians.

First, check out this video:

Then, grab your camera and record your wittiest, most festive answers to the any of the Christmassy questions listed below – and submit it as a response video on YouTube! Your video might just appear in the “Doctor Who: Best of the Christmas Specials” show on BBC America, or online.

  • Would you rather go sleigh riding with a Dalek or make snow angels with an Ood?
  • Would you rather ride with Santa in his sleigh or The Doctor in his TARDIS?
  • Would you rather find yourself under mistletoe with a Weeping Angel or The Silence?
  • Would you rather spend Christmas traveling with the Doctor or relaxing at home with Amy and Rory?
  • Would you rather eat fish fingers and custard or a traditional Christmas dinner?
  • Would you rather see Santa Claus come down your chimney or the Doctor land in your yard?
  • Would you rather find a Sonic Screwdriver in your stocking or a TARDIS under your Christmas tree?

The deadline is November 23rdClick here for full instructions on how to submit a video response on YouTube.

Primeval – now ready for Blu-ray

Primeval

This is the year when Primeval not only came back from extinction, but finally entered the hi-def age. That means that Primeval: Volume 3 (which combines Seasons 4 and 5) will be available on Blu-ray as well as standard DVD. Since Season 4 ended last February, we have been eagerly awaiting Season 5, which premieres next Saturday, November 12th on BBC America. In Canada the premiere is Thursday, November 10th on Space.

Primeval: Volume 3 offers thirteen episodes packed with creatures plucked out of their comfort zones, plus New Dawn (a two-part “Making of” feature) and the five prequel webisodes which you may have caught on BBCAmerica.com. Our favorite prequel includes tantalizing cell phone footage of a stocky dinosaur rampaging through the Members Bar of the House of Commons. We’re glad it’s a keeper now.

As we have seen in previous seasons, the business of working with monsters and unstable geniuses creates a steady turnover at the ARC, second only to that of teachers of the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. This year’s new faces include: Ciaran McMenamin (David Copperfield-1999) as the enigmatic newly recruited field leader; Ruth Kearney as the perky team coordinator; and Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as a charming, rich and famous genius we can’t quite trust. Primeval Volume 3 will crash through an anomaly near you on January 10, 2012.

Spine-tingling stuff in the works

With a whole weekend ahead of us to get in the mood for Halloween, we have monsters on the mind. BBC America is getting in on the act by running a marathon of Ghoul Britannia films starting Sunday at noon ET with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with Kenneth Branagh. It’s worth a revisit if you were lucky enough to catch one of the National Theatre Live feeds last spring with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternating as Doctor Frankenstein and the Monster.

Online, BBC America will be counting votes until 11:59PM ET on Sunday, October 30th in its costume contest. Vote here for your favorite finalists in five different categories. Looks like this is Doctor Who’s year, and if you’re wracking your mind for something completely different in festivities, BBC America is brimming with ideas on how to throw a Doctor Who party.

In the coming weeks, DVDs of Bedlam: Season 1, Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns and, of course, Doctor Who are guaranteed to extend the chills of the season. Looking forward to next year, the next volume of Primeval is on its way, and if you like your monsters prehistoric, Planet Dinosaur will breathe life into the latest discoveries.

On the film front, we have been following a little Hammer production of The Woman in Black, currently scheduled for February 3, 2012. The modest two-character play based on the 1983 Susan Hill novel has been packing London houses for more than a decade, and we’re told that it’s still the scariest show on the boards. The film, which promises to be more elaborate, stars Daniel Radcliffe with Janet McTeer and Ciaran Hinds. We’ll keep an eye out for that DVD as well.

Merlin’s magic grows from strength to strength

Merlin: Season 3

It comes as no surprise to fans that Merlin established a niche for itself on SyFy. The youth-oriented take on the Arthurian legend has something for everybody: attractive leads in Colin Morgan and Bradley James, Katie McGrath as the relentlessly dangerous yet deliciously dressed Morgana, solid support from Anthony Head and Richard Wilson, “eye candy” art direction and enough twists on the traditional legend to keep you guessing. SyFy has already announced that Season Four (which just kicked off on the BBC) will air in the US in 2012. (Canadian broadcast details are not yet known.) With Season Four looming, the DVD of Merlin: Season 3 is expected to release early next year, in time to refresh your memory of last winter’s broadcast. This is the season that opened with screaming mandrakes, giant scorpions, a siege on Camelot by an army of 20,000 and a dozen or two sword-wielding skeletons. Semi-regulars and guest stars include Emilia Fox (David Copperfield –‘99), Miriam Margolyes (Oliver Twist –’85, Blackadder, Freud), Pauline Collins (Bleak House, Upstairs Downstairs – ITV) and a goblin voiced by Mark Williams (Harry Potter films, Sense & Sensibility).

Doctor Who Complete Sixth Series

Matt Smith, Doctor Who

As we count the minutes until the Doctor Who finale airs tomorrow night on BBC America and on Space in Canada, it’s a good time to take stock of what goodies will be in Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series. As promised, the set includes Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol and its accompanying Doctor Who Confidential. Sadly, we weren’t able to include the Doctor Who at the Proms concert from the Christmas Carol single, but the disc will have the much-desired “Space” and “Time” Comic Relief sketches for last March’s Red Nose Day. Audio commentaries are available on “The Impossible Astronaut,” “The Rebel Flesh,” “A Good Man Goes to War,” “The Wedding of River Song,” and best of all, Neil Gaiman recorded commentary on “The Doctor’s Wife” when he was in London for his Neverwhere commentary sessions. Along with prequels, Monster Files and the customary disc devoted to Doctor Who Confidential, there are five newly filmed scenes called “Night and the Doctor” that are exclusive to Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series, and even an exclusive Doctor Who Confidential on filming these scenes. (We were sad to hear this week that Doctor Who Confidential was being cancelled following Series Six. Everyone who relied on this series’ unique behind-the-scenes access will feel its loss.) Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series will release on November 22nd, but can be pre-ordered now. Also coming in time for the holidays are two new Doctor Who ornaments, the TARDIS glass ornament, and the festive red Dalek glass ornament.

Supernatural fan alert: Bedlam (in which the hippest address in London is a renovated insane asylum teeming with the malevolent spirits) premieres tomorrow night after Doctor Who on both BBC America and Space.